Dhruv Khurana

Dhruv Khurana, Ph.D., is a health economist specializing in the design, implementation, and evaluation of system-wide interventions using quasi-experimental causal inference methods, with the goal of improving health outcomes for underserved and marginalized populations.

Dr. Khurana developed the Whole PERSON Health Score, a holistic assessment tool that helps care teams identify patients’ comprehensive health and social needs and support timely, targeted interventions. This work was recognized as a New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst: Innovations in Care Delivery Editors’ Pick of 2022 and featured in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Science-in-Action brief.

Dr. Khurana has worked on more than $22 million in grants and contracts, partnering with Riverside County, the California Department of Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Previously, as a Senior Economist at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, his work included evaluations of California’s Naloxone Distribution Program, Recovery Incentives/Contingency Management, and 1115 waiver initiatives. He currently leads the first-in-nation evaluation of Riverside County’s Integrated Service Delivery System.

In addition to his research, Dr. Khurana designs and teaches health economics curricula for UCLA’s executive EMPH and MHA programs. He began his higher education teaching career as one of the youngest lecturers in the California State University system, where he taught Principles of Economics, Intermediate Microeconomics, and Behavioral Economics. He is a 2020 American Society of Health Economists Diversity Scholar and a three-time California State University Most Valued Professor.

Selected Publications

Health Equity/LGBTQ+ Health
Khurana, D., & Short, A. (2026). Protecting Safety-Net Equity Monitoring After Federal SOGI Data Rollbacks. Health Affairs Scholar, 4(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/haschl/qxag124
Khurana, D., Garner, M., Bass, B., Leung, G., & Firek, A. (2025). Sexual-orientation disparities in whole person health: Age- and gender-stratified analysis of patients in a safety-net system. International Journal for Equity in Health, 24, 310. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02672-3
Huang, K., Yang, A., Skoretz, L., Firek, A., & Khurana, D. (2025). Developing health care provider knowledge, confidence, and cultural sensitivity through resident transgender training: A controlled educational study. International Journal for Equity in Health, 24, 202. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-025-02555-7

Substance Use
Bass, B., Urada, D., Khurana, D., Joshi, V., & Boustead, A. (2023). Effect of the Drug Medi-Cal Organized Delivery System 1115 demonstration waiver on substance use disorder treatment access: Evidence from California. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2023.109847
Bass, B., Padwa, H., Khurana, D., Urada, D., Boustead, A., & Pacula, R. (2024). Adult use cannabis legalization, cannabis use disorder treatment, and cannabis use disorder treatment outcomes in California, 2010–2020. Journal of Substance Use and Addiction Treatment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.josat.2024.209345
Bass, B., Padwa, H., Khurana, D., & Urada, D. (2025). Associations between recreational cannabis legalization and cannabis use disorder treatment outcomes in California, 2010–2021. Journal of Cannabis Research, 7, 60. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-025-00323-6

Vaccines
Khurana, D., Garcia, L., Freund, D., Firek, A., & Gatto, N. M. (2025). Economic incentives for COVID-19 vaccination among employees of a safety-net health system and medical center in Southern California: A cross-sectional study. Health Science Reports, 8. https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.71454
Garcia, L., Firek, A., Freund, D., Massai, D., Khurana, D., Lee, J. E., Zamarripa, S., Sasaninia, B., Michaels, K., Nightingale, J., & Gatto, N. M. (2022). Decisions to choose COVID-19 vaccination among health care workers vary by sociodemographic factors. Vaccines, 10(8), 1247. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10081247
Gatto, N. M., Lee, J. E., Massai, D., Zamarripa, S., Sasaninia, B., Khurana, D., Michaels, K., Freund, D., Nightingale, J., & Firek, A. (2021). Correlates of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance, hesitancy, and refusal among employees of a safety-net California county health system. Vaccines, 9(10), 1152. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines9101152

Social Determinants of Health
Khurana, D., Leung, G., Sasaninia, B., Tran, D., Khan, M., & Firek, A. (2022). The Whole PERSON Health Score: An innovative patient-focused tool to measure non-medical determinants of health. NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery, 3(8). https://doi.org/10.1056/CAT.22.0096

Oral Public Health
Khurana, D., Rashed, A., Tambil, Z., Firek, A., Parashar, P., & Khurana, S. (2026). Use and perceptions of large language models among dental students: Implications for dental education. Journal of Dental Education, 0, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1002/jdd.70218